


Thanks

by alliepi314



Category: Mr. Nobody (2009)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, F/M, Happy Ending, Reunions, first fic please be gentle, or at least civil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 14:18:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15293367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alliepi314/pseuds/alliepi314
Summary: Everything I do ends in disaster.He was struck suddenly with the knowledge that he would not be able to leave the lighthouse until he found her or until he died. His instinctual certainty was relieving. He would find her. She would come. Or he would die. Death had never felt like something to be relieved about, but Anna had a way of changing his perspective on everything, even when absent.He waited. She didn’t come.





	Thanks

**Author's Note:**

> Hello All! I watched the film Mr. Nobody recently, and for the first time in my life, I couldn't find a single fic for this fandom. I consider myself something of a good person, and though I'm not much of a writer, I set out to right this wrong (no pun intended). So here is the fruit of my heartfelt albeit somewhat begrudging labor. This is my first fic ever so, although constructive criticism is welcome, please be gentle! I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.

He should have been more careful. He should have taken every precaution. But he was a fool in love and he let his guard down while watching Anna walk away. After glancing at the slip of paper that he was gripping tighter than a lifeline, he let his attention be captured by the sway of her hips and the swing of her hair as she left him. He restrained himself from rushing to wrap her in his arms, to never let her go again. He would catch her as she rounded the corner and cross his arms over her chest and she would never leave him. He would bury his face in her scarf and press up against her back and try futilely to get close enough that they would merge and become so stuck to each other that they became one, unable to be separated. Her hair would tickle his face and she would laugh, light and carefree, as she whirled around to press him into a smiling kiss. And then she would say,

“I will always find you, Nemo. No choice you make can change that.” His idle daydream cost him dearly.

He blamed the unemployed Brazilian for losing her, but he knew he should have been more careful. He should have saved her number. He should have put that scrap of paper in his pocket where it would be safe. He should have given her his number too. He should have never let her leave in the first place.

_Everything I do ends in disaster._

Nemo went to the lighthouse after two days had passed. It was still dark when he arrived and he watched the sun rise and diffuse the sky and water in hues of pink and red. His heart swelled suddenly as the colors filled his mind with her. Images danced in his brain of when they were younger. She was always covered head to toe in reds and pinks, relaxed and yet full of life. They had shared bedraggled hair, occasionally brushing out each others’ snarls only for the tangles to return the first time they rolled around or tossed their heads in her bed. Memories were so thick in his head that he could smell her, peachy and sweet.

He was struck suddenly with the knowledge that he would not be able to leave the lighthouse until he found her or until he died. His instinctual certainty was relieving. He would find her. She would come. Or he would die. Death had never felt like something to be relieved about, but Anna had a way of changing his perspective on everything, even when absent.

He waited. She didn’t come.

That night he slept on one of those wooden benches with peeling blue paint and he dreamt of Anna. She had come and she had seen him. Nemo could feel her tracing his eyebrow so clearly. He could feel the scrape of her fingernail and soft puffs of breath on his face. He was so sure that she was with him that when he woke to the absence of her, he nearly cried. To get his bearings he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and slowed his shaky breathing. The jostling caused something to brush against his fingers. At once it came to him, he still had a stick of chalk in his pocket from her studio. As though to relieve some compulsion, he moved to where she had stood in his dream and marked it with a circle. The white chalk circle did little to soothe his heart but as he sat down once more he felt something in him settle.

 _I will find her. She will come. I will find her._ Like a mantra, these phrases repeated in Nemo’s mind until he dozed off again. Flashes of Anna, smiling, laughing, or just looking at him, were all that he saw as darkness washed over him once more.

The next time Nemo awoke, it was because of a dull ache in his stomach. _When was the last time I ate?_ Ignoring his hunger, he looked up to see how far the sun had moved. He must have slept a while because the sun was at its summit now, in a blue, cloudless sky. Cursing his carelessness for falling asleep, he knew that he may have missed his only chance to find her. Sitting up, he let out a soft groan and leaned back in the bench. The wooden slats dug into his back and he arched up listening to the popping of his vertebrae. The hollow pain was more prominent now but Nemo was hesitant to leave after sleeping through the morning and potentially wasting his only chance to reunite with his - soulmate? Could he call her that? Nemo was sure that he and Anna were going to find each other no matter what, but did that qualify him to call her his soulmate? If he could have one, he wanted it to be Anna.

 

* * *

 

On day seventeen he thought about leaving. He considered finding a job to sufficiently feed and clothe himself. He considered the idea of having stability. Seventeen days on a bench had taken its toll. His back ached in sync with his heart and Nemo had lost weight too. He felt positively disgusting, and that was saying something. Especially because he had been entirely drenched in rain the previous night. His jacket was still soggy from it and his morale was low. His days had consisted mostly of staring blankly into the river and letting his mind wander to visions of a hopeful future. His daydreams were always incredibly simple: setting a dinner table with Anna. Or lying in bed with her as he played with her hair. Or even waking up to the sun shining through a window to cast shadows on the bed and across her face as they watched each other wake for the day.

 _God, what I would give to wake up to her face even one more time._ That was the thought that kept Nemo there on the bench that day. And the dream he had that night was what kept him there for the eleven days after.

In his dream, she came again. She stopped to look out at the water and then moved to him with careful steps. He felt cautious fingers on his arm and they gently slid down to clasp his hand with a slight squeeze. Her hair was like a feather on his cheek as she leaned over his sleeping form. Her breath was on his lips, warm and smelling faintly of fruit. A pause and then she moved back, hand slipping out of his. Nemo could hear her footsteps on the sidewalk clacking as she left.

Nemo came to with a gasp, tears already streaming down his face. He fumbled for the chalk and for a heartstopping moment he thought he had lost it. But then his fingers found it deep in his pocket and grasped it surely as he swung off the bench to retrace the circle that had washed away the previous night. The only things he could hear were the sounds of his panicky breathing and the drag of the chalk on the boardwalk. The circle didn’t help as much this time and Nemo sat down while giving his eyes a couple rough swipes to rid himself of the tears that had started before he was even done dreaming. It was still dark, practically the dead of night, but he couldn’t bring himself to try sleeping again. He stayed awake with the swirling emotions of grief, hope, and anxiety making a nauseating concoction in his heart. And his mind replaying his frayed dream that felt too real. The memory of the feeling of her hand in his, tortured him through the night, and when morning came he was too exhausted to stay awake and he fell back into a fitful sleep. But the dream reminded Nemo that he would find her. He would.

This wasn’t the last of his dreams. Two days later he dreamt of her again. She didn’t touch him, or make a sound but he could feel her presence. He drew another circle in the morning.

 

* * *

 

On day twenty-seven he was at his lowest. Nearly a month had passed and he hadn’t seen her except for in his dreams.

 _What if she never comes? What if I wait here forever? Will I ever see her again?_ The uncertainties felt more uncomfortable than ever before. And on top of this, he was tired. He was tired of being dirty. He was tired of being hungry. And he was tired of sleeping on a bench that dug into his spine no matter how many layers he wore. And he missed Anna. That night he had the most vivid dream yet; it felt almost like a memory.

He was nine years old again. He was back at the train station with his parents looking down at him, each grasping one of his hands. He looked nervously between them and held on tighter. Then his mother was on the train and he was chasing it down. His father was shouting his name and he glanced back. He reached the end of the station and jumped down onto the tracks pausing. Nemo looked towards his father, and then back at the ever distant-growing train, and felt frozen by his indecision. Instead of going to his mother or father, he ran into the forest stopping only when a maple leaf caught his eye. He bent down to pluck it from the ground and blew it into the air where the wind snatched it up and carried it out of view.

Nemo woke slowly. He smelled peaches and vanilla. A maple leaf flew past him and he tracked it with bleary eyes. He saw the overlapping circles of chalk. There was someone standing in them and when he looked at their face he caught her eyes as she turned to glance behind her.

Time was slow. Anna’s eyes widened. Nemo breathed in sharply through his nose. He was completely dazed for a whole second, but it felt like a century or so had passed before he recovered only to see her stumbling back in shock. And then time sped up. Faster than light they were in each other's arms, laughing with wet eyes. Words of gratitude were flowing from his mouth unrestrained: “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.” Living his previous fantasy, he turned his face into her scarfed neck. _God, I love peaches. I love Anna. Am I still dreaming?_

“Are you real?” he whispered into her neck. Anna’s response was to lean back, take his face in her hands and look into his eyes. _I think I know why they say that the eyes are windows to the soul._ Not even in his dreams could he see her like this. “You feel real.”

“Nemo, I am never taking my eyes off you again. It was a mistake to trust you with keeping a piece of paper for two days without losing it,” she said seriously, but a smile was playing on her lips.

Her lips.

Nemo kissed her. Right there on the sidewalk with the sun lighting up the river behind them. He was complete. He forgot about the grime on his body, the way he smelled, and his lingering hunger. His senses were filled with her, he felt whole once more, and he knew that losing her again was not an option. Losing her would mean losing his sanity.

“Give me your phone,” Anna said, as soon as they parted. She took it in her hand and tapped away. A ringing sound let out suddenly and she was reaching into her pocket. She pulled out her own phone and answered before immediately hanging up. Handing Nemo’s phone back to him, she said with a charming smile, “Don’t you dare lose my number again. I swear to God Nemo if you drop your phone in the water or something I will never forgive you. Not that it really matters, because I am never letting you out of my sight again.”

Nemo surprised himself when a joyous laugh bubbled from his throat, and once he started laughing he couldn’t stop. He laughed and laughed until he was bent over, nearly on the ground. And then he was searching for her hand when his vision started to blur as his eyes watered from the laughter. Quick as a flash, his laughter turned to tears and he was in her arms again nearly sobbing before he even had a chance to suppress his emotions. It wasn’t until he felt something wet on his neck and heard a soft sniffle that he realized she was crying too. His embrace tightened around her and he had no idea how long they stayed like that. It was either shorter than a second or longer than an eternity, but when they finally pulled apart, both of their faces were dry and they shared wide smiles and bright eyes.

She kissed him again, gentle and comforting. It was chaste; a simple expression of affection. To an outsider, it would seem perfunctory in the way that it was short and seemingly free of passion, but the smile on Anna’s lips would have given the game away. She grasped his hand once more and turned away, looking at him over her shoulder with a sly smile, an echo of when they found each other.

“Come. Let me show you my place so I can ground you.”

“Ground me?”

“You’re a fool if you think I’m letting you leave my side for the next year at least, Nemo Nobody,” she said, full of mirth, “And I’m certainly not above locking you in my shabby apartment.” He laughed, hearty and full, letting her take off with him close behind. As she walked into the city with him, she let something slip from her mouth, so quiet he almost didn’t catch it.

“Thank you for waiting.”

He moved closer to her so that they bumped shoulders as they walked through the towering buildings of downtown Montreal. He pressed a kiss to her temple and breathed a reply in her ear.

“Thank you for finding me.”

  



End file.
